JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 30, 2011) - The ETSU men's golf team opens up its spring season on Monday as the Bucs are looking to defend their 2010 title at the JU Invitational hosted by Mark McCumber, held on the Players Stadium Course at the TPC at Sawgrass.

JU will host the 15-team event that features nine teams ranked in the top 100 and six in the top 50, including defending champion ETSU. In addition, the nation's top-ranked team Florida, along with UNF, Wake Forest and Clemson highlight this year's field.

Last year, ETSU used the win to jump start a strong spring season that eventually finished with the Atlantic Sun Conference title and a berth in the NCAA Regionals.

Sitting in third place after the first round, the Bucs posted the low round of the tournament in the second with a three-over par 291 to trail Clemson by a shot entering the final round. ETSU carded an 11-over par, 299, in the final round to top Wake Forest by seven and Clemson by eight shots.

Wake Forest's Brendan Gielow won the individual competition at two-over par for the 54-hole event, winning by one shot. Gielow recovered from a four-over par 76 in the opening round with a three-under par 69 in the second round to take the lead at one-over par. His bogey on the 18th hole gave him a one-over par 73 in the final round to top Charleston Southern's Kelvin Day by a shot.

The Bucs battled through some injuries in the fall as their top returning player from a season ago, Rhys Enoch (Cornwall, England) will take a red-shirt year after a shoulder injury prevented him from playing much of the fall.

ETSU has added freshman Lucas Armstrong (Church Hill, Tenn.) to the roster after he played the fall semester at Walters State Community College. Armstrong had a strong fall at Walter State as he won his first collegiate tournament.

Junior Devin Komline (Dorset, Vt.) led the Bucs in the fall with a 74.1 stroke average that included a top-five finish at the Rod Myers Invitational.

Florida, Wake Forest, Clemson, ETSU and UNF all made appearances in the NCAA Regionals last season. Liberty and East Carolina are in the mix for a spot after a strong fall campaign with Jacksonville State looking to be an early favorite to win the Ohio Valley Conference.

The first two rounds are set for Monday, Jan. 31, with the final round to tee off on Tuesday, Feb. 1. Live scoring for the event will be available through Golf Stat at ETSUBucs.com.

For more information on the ETSU men's golf team please go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's golf link. Also, be sure to follow ETSU Athletics on Facebook and Twitter.